A firm command of spoken Italian, an awareness of Italian history and culture and a sound understanding of the theory and practice behind International Relations are what this combined degree offers.**Why study this course?**This joint degree will allow you to explore ideas on government, policy and political behaviour from an international perspective, as well as studying in depth the political and social culture of Italy. In addition, you will gain a high level of proficiency in the Italian language and experience the culture of Italy first-hand through working or studying abroad for a year. There are close links between the subjects in this degree. Within Italian Studies you will study Italian history and politics from various perspectives, such as through its language, film and literature. This will be well complemented by International Relations modules which will allow you to place what you have learned in a regional and global context.**After the course**A global market demands language skills; by the time you graduate, you can expect to be able to write and speak fluently in Italian - an immensely useful skill to have. Careers of recent Italian graduates range from translating, teaching and research to marketing, financial services, the international art business (Christie’s), business, journalism and the fashion and travel industries. Our International Relations graduates are recognised for the specialist knowledge and expertise they can offer to the public and private sector alike; past graduates have put their skills to direct use in the home and European civil services, political research units, think-thanks, non-governmental organsiationsorganisations and journalism. Others have gone into positions in public services (civil service, local government, public corporations, hospital management, etc), the social services (child care, youth employment, probation, etc), advertising, radio and television, management traineeships in industry, professions such as accountancy and law, banking and insurance, and various research agencies.